D retold us a story from his childhood. He’s been clearing a fair bit of snow the last while and I think it triggered a fond memory of his favourite childhood book. When he was little, he got a book from the school library. He loved it.

When I first dipped into the homeschooling world, it didn’t occur to me that there would be homeschooling trends to keep up with. The word “homeschooling” didn’t exactly equal “cool” at the time.

Buying a camper, sharing a purchase of a camper with my son, getting a new tent instead, opening a resource centre, visiting a different provincial park every weekend, moving east, trying veganism again, switching the bedrooms around in the house, writing a book of short stories … 

Curricula can be notoriously hard to stick to. It isn’t always, but it can be! Take a glance at the number of homeschool blog posts about switching and moving around of curriculum. Or perhaps a parent is drawn to a curriculum while a child is not. Or in my case, vice versa! 

I sat, two competing membership brochures staring up at me from the kitchen table, and tried to make a decision. Zoo or Science Centre. Science Centre or Zoo. These were two memberships we frequently rotated years with. 

Many recommendations for children’s fiction are American or classic British literature which are both wonderful, but leave a gap for Canadians looking for some good reflections of our own country.

I decided to write this “spur of the moment” after reading posts a few others had written about their days with teens. I had taken notes on a day in early February but set them aside because it seems tricky to write about a day in the life with teens.

You might be a home educating parent excited about a great plan for the day. Or maybe you have a natural learning/unschooling approach and are looking forward to supporting a project, curious to see what else will unfold.

’ve heard those words said both emphatically and tentatively several times over the last week or so. It’s usually been followed by the words, “Well, it can’t be any worse than 2020.” Personally, I think it can and might be, but I guess what we can each control is our own perspective. Do I sound a bit tentative even in saying that?

Eyes brightened, a smile of appreciation grew and a spring in his step returned. It was payment collection time for my son’s newspaper route. This is a second route he’s taken on in order to pay for some bills and equipment for a future project he’s been planning. He’s been pretty excited about it and waited several months to get this additional route. He’s taken it seriously from the get-go, connected with customers and set up a routine to keep things as consistent as possible.

The topic of typewriters came up in family conversation the other day. I described the clickety-clack of our old family typewriter and how excited I was as a young teenager when I received an electric one.

My two younger kids were up early this morning cleaning up cat vomit. It’s a lovely way to start a story, I know😉. It’s relative to what I’ve been thinking about, though, so bear with me. It was a bit of a mess. I passed them in the kitchen as I was heading back to bed from getting a glass of water. They were getting paper towel and spray cleaner from the cupboard.

Oh, there were some beautiful books written in the early and mid 20th Century. You may remember them from your own childhood … for many of us, some of them would have been considered classics even then. You may have read some of these to your own children – some of these are on quite a few recommended book lists. Most of these books can be found in local libraries or ordered in on loan.

Sweet, still September
Summer draws to a slow close
Autumn lies in wait

I think it’s safe to say that no parent is looking for a limited, substandard, bare minimum of an education and life for their child!

These are interesting times. Choices abound, and so do decisions. Usually it’s easier to just follow the path and yet, suddenly it’s clearer that there isn’t just one path, or even two.

In the eighth post from A Summer of Stories, I had an opportunity to chat with Shay, 13, and her mum, Vadette, about her lifelong love of animals and her adventure earlier this summer working with animals at a wildlife rescue and rehabilitation centre.

I had the opportunity to hear from three young gentlemen about what they are up to, the things they enjoy most and the reasons why.

In the sixth post from A Summer of Stories, which has been focusing on different examples of self- directed learning, I’m sharing snippets and snapshots of the things that pique our interests everyday. And by people, I mean a variety of people – people that I’ve seen out and about, talked to and those in our own family, myself included.

Cameron and I have known each other for a full decade as of this past spring. It seems unbelievable, but it’s true! We’ve had the opportunity to work together at two live theatres as part of the Front of House teams.